


Not All As It Seems

by pommene



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Agent AU, Also the major character death doesn't happen until much much later, I'll add more characters as they appear - Freeform, I'm not great at summaries either, Rating might go up, a paragraph or two and they only really introduce themselves, also the title might change, and ships but those will come later, i don't really know what to tag this as, im not gonna add leo or izumi or tsukasa to the characters bc theyre only there for like, natsume but hes only here for a little too, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2020-11-26 03:00:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20923070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pommene/pseuds/pommene
Summary: [Agent Au]Isara Mao was just a normal kid, attending a normal school and hanging out with his friends. The usual, you know?But not everything is as it seems on the outside, and Mao is pulled into a world he never expected to be a part of. Unfortunately, this world was already corrupt and broken, and Mao barely has time to adjust before he's thrust into action along with his fellow kids.





	1. Act I: The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to this story! A few things: this is my first enstars fanfiction so if any of the characters seem ooc it's probably because I'm relatively new to the fandom, but I've read a lot of the canon stories and fanfictions so I think I have at least a decent understanding of things :D also if I get something wrong please let me know!  
This isn't all from Mao's perspective; there are three acts in this story and the first act will mainly focus oh him, but the other two will showcase more characters and units  
Also this is purely a passion project. I love this au so much and I'm excited to share it.  
I'm probably gonna be post chapters on a weekly basis.

Mao was no stranger to hearing strange things, especially considering who he spent his time around. Subaru said weird things all the time, and he often told stories that sounded like movie plots as though he had been there. Makoto didn't say weird things as much as he did them, occasionally Mao would find the blond boy messing around on the computer and hacking into websites "just for the fun of it". Hokuto didn't say strange things very often, but sometimes he'd say things that would make Mao's head hurt or his hair stand on end, things about a "boss" or "alerting someone". Then there were the strange occurrences that mostly happened when he was with his friends. There were times when Mao thought he was hearing things when bushes rustled or footsteps could be heard trailing them but whenever Mao looked back to see who the owner of the steps was, he would find no one. Or other times voices besides his companions' could be heard, but again, Mao could never find out who the voices belonged to.

All things considered, Mao was used to strange things happening.

Mao liked to brush these things off as just having wierd friends or lack of sleep-- which wasn't all that unusual seeing as how he'd been having trouble sleeping recently-- and go on with his day. If ever there was something he couldn't find a way to explain, it was this.

His three friends, bloodied and panting but otherwise looking very relaxed, standing above a man in camo holding small blades or, in Subaru's case, a small gun in an alley just off the side of Hokuto's house. The man was limp on the floor, his clothes stained red from the wounds on his arms and legs. He had been stabbed, Mao realized, multiple times.

He had been stabbed multiple times by Mao's _friends_.

Briefly, the redhead remembered a conversation he had overheard a week or so ago. 

Hokuto and Subaru were arguing, and it seemed like Makoto was trying to keep peace between them to little success. They weren't exactly being quiet, so it wasn't really eavesdropping, but Mao hadn't heard the two have a real argument in such a long time that curiosity got the better of him.

_"If you say too much the Boss will find out. You know he's not as forgiving as Hasumi." Hokuto had said. _

_"Its fineee. Besides, it's not like he'll find out, no one's gonna hear me."_

_"You don't know that. If the threat level gets even a little higher-!"_

_"It won't. There's nothing here Hokke. The boss is worrying about other things, not some small school in the middle of one of the least threatening areas in Japan."_

_"You don't know that! What on Earth would make you understand that you can't be so nonchalant about these things. If one of the other undercovers or even one of the spies were to find out you've been talking about our missions...! I'm not just worried about myself, you know."_

_"Well, don't be worried about anyone."_

_Hokuto had taken a deep breath then, as though he had a headache, "Akehoshi-"_

_"Uhmm, maybe it'd be better if we all stopped to listen to each other? I agree that Akehoshi can't be so chill about telling the stories but I also don't think Hokke should be so... uh... should be so pessimistic. It really is unlikely that anyone else would be send here." _

Their conversation continued on back and forth for a while, but the longer it went on for the less Mao seemed to understand. He stepped away just before they would have opened the door, still chattering albeit a bit quieter, catching the fourth friend of the group red-handed.

It was funny that he only remembered that now of all times, Mao thought. He had brushed the argument off, as he usually did for anything unusual, as practice for the upcoming play Hokuto was a part of.

Makoto opened his mouth only to be cut off with Subaru's loud voice.

"Oh hey Sari~!"

You know, as though there wasn't someone bleeding out in front of him.

Mao didn't--no, he couldn't-- say anything. What would he have said? "Oh sorry, looks like you're busy, I'll come back later."

"We should probably deal with this," Hokuto gestured to Subaru and Makoto and then to the man on the ground, "Mao, if you could meet us in my room?"

What Hokuto said was a question, but to Mao it sounded more like a demand. He wouldn't have dared to disobey the black haired boy when he was holding a blade that probably wasn't red before today and whose front side was covered in blood.

It'll be hard to wash that out, Mao thought absent-mindedly. He nodded weakly and stumbled off, out of the alley and into Hokuto's home. We're his parents home? Did they know? He climbed the stairs to his friend's room and it seemed as though no one was home. Or at least, if there was anyone there they were being incredibly quiet.

He sat on the bed and looked around the room. It was normal, the same as it always looked. The bed, the night table, the closet on the other side of the room and various trinkets on the top shelf of an otherwise full bookshelf. The desk to the his right still had papers on it, probably from studying. The window just above the desk was open. Was it selfish to say he wanted to go back to yesterday?

Mao fiddled with his hands; there was a strange pit in his stomach and a nagging thought in the back of his mind that he'd seen too much and that his friends would try to kill him to keep him silent.

The few minutes before the three joined him might as well have been considered torture. Occasionally voices could be heard from the alley and occasionally the clock on Hokuto's wall ticked-- both of which only upped Mao's anxiety. He could run for it, right? But if everything turned out to be fine, just a practice for the play or something, then he would be the one at fault. A plan was forming in his head: if they attacked him he would jump out the window and if they didn't he would listen to them. Two floors up wasn't high enough to seriously injure him, right?

The door creaked open, and Hokuto stepped in first, followed by Makoto and finally Subaru, who smiled at Mao before opening Hokuto's closet and picking a random shirt out.

"Akehoshi, don't go taking my clothes."

"Its not like I can walk home looking like this, can I~?"

"You could just wear a jacket, but Hokke, you should probably change since you got the most dirty."

"Mhm. I'll be right back," and he left the bedroom, taking spare clothes with him.

Subaru was still rummaging around in the closet, humming to himself. Makoto sat down next to Mao on the bed having put on a hoodie to cover the mess on his front.

"I'm sorry you kinda got dragged into this." Mao could hardly hear Makoto over the loud, harsh beating of his heart.

The door creaked open again much louder this time, and Hokuto returned without holding the clothes he changed out of.

Noticing Mao's look, Hokuto explained, "they're in the sink."

"Its kinda a pain if you think about it. Blood's really hard to get rid of." Subaru piped up, finally settling on a shirt and changing into it immediately before sitting on the floor in front of the two on the bed. The circle, or square rather, was completed when Hokuto pulled his desk chair around to face them.

" So~ I guess you have a couple questions, huh Sari!"

"Uh... A couple yeah..." he hoped it wasn't too obvious how nervous he was, "I-I... what was that?!"

"I'm gonna assume you mean that guy in the alley, yeah? He attacked us so we put a stop to that." The smile on Subaru's face definitely wasn't meant to feel as menacing as it did.

"To explain from the beginning," Makoto stepped in, "we're a part of an agency that deals with... uhm. Well, I guess we deal with the sort of thing you'd hear about in movies; stealing, hacking, the occasional um... murder. But!! We're doing these things for the sake of society, so it's not that bad!!"

"I- what?"

This time it was Hokuto that spoke, "there's an organization, or a group of organizations, that belong to the government that do similar things for money or simply because it's a convenient way to meet their ends. We do exactly what they do but usually it's to retrieve something stolen or take down a corrupt opposing agent. And by 'we' I mean our agency."

"Okay..."

"Mhm~! It's called Yumenosaki Idol Agency!"

"Doesn't that train idols?"

"Yeah," Subaru said cheerfully, "but that's just a facade! All the idols trained there are also a part of the underground, ah, that's what we call the vigilante-like part: the underground."

"So that guy..."

"He was a part of the government's agency and they're our rivals, so even if he didn't attack us we'd still have to be careful around him~."

"Then I have some other questions. Whose 'the boss'?"

"He's the Boss, what do you mean?"

Hokuto heaved a heavy sigh, "The Boss is just that. He's not the founder of the agency or anything, but he's the son of a really important and rich family who were close to the founders, so he practically owns the place. He's in charge, basically, though people rarely get orders directly from him anymore."

"And his name...?"

"It's supposed to be kept secret from anyone not involved, so unfortunately if I told you you'd have to be silenced."

"Oh that's absolutely terrifying. What about the uhh... what did you call them? The undercovers?"

"You heard us arguing last week then, I take it?"

"Yeah."

"The undercovers are agents who take on undercover work. The three of us, for example. We infiltrate public places to scout for any information that could be useful. New recruits, enemy positions, stuff like that. Schools are common places for us."

"Okay and then threat level?"

"Right. Areas are divided based on threat level, so the higher it is the more units might be sent there."

"Uhh... units?"

"Oh right, agents often operate in units. They aren't concrete though, sometimes units will work together or they'll be separated."

"Okay. Last thing, you mentioned someone's name last week. I don't really remember it but it started with an H I think?"

"Did we?"

"Yeah, you did mention Hasumi." Makoto remembered.

"Oh... technically you aren't supposed to know his name either but he's the second hand to the Boss."

"Okay. Okay."

"Heh, Sari, what's with that face~?"

"Sorry, this was all just a little unexpected. It's getting kinda late too, so I'm a little tired."

"Oh... Hokke, can I sleep here tonight?"

"Hah, sure."

"Yay~! It's a sleepover, you two should stay too!"

"I wouldn't mind, but my mom is probably worrying about me so I should get back."

Subaru puffed his cheeks, feigning a pout, "Whatever. Sari!! Join us!"

"I should get home too."

"Awww. Looks like it's just you and me, Hokke!!"

Hokuto pushed away Subaru, who was leaning in to hug the former, "I should warn you, Isara, now that you know about us people might come for you. If they do, don't fight them or hurt them. You won't be hurt on purpose or killed, I can promise you that much."

"Oh, wonderful, thanks for warning me at least."

Nodding to Hokuto and following Makoto out until they parted ways in front of the house, Mao's mind began wandering.

Agents? Vigilantes? The government? It was all very movie-like, just like Makoto said. Though, maybe his friends were just playing some elaborate prank on him? 

A headache was brewing behind his eyes. He decided that when he got home, he'd take a nice warm shower and then collapse on his bed. 


	2. Act I: Kidnapping Is A Crime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mao meets some new faces in a new place and has a... fun encounter with the man in charge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ngl this chapter, especially Mao and Ritsu's banter, was really fun to write.
> 
> I'm not entirely familiar with Knights and their characters, but I hope I at least did okay with them!
> 
> This chapters really long for me, but it establishes a lot and I didn't want to have three set up chapters in a row.

* * *

When Mao woke up he couldn't tell where he was. His blanket was covering only his head and his bed rumbled methodically.

Wait.

Mao blinked his heavy eyes and tried to get rid of the fuzzy feeling in his head. He wasn't in his bed after all, and this wasn't his blanket. If his hearing was correct he was in a car, and was that a sack he over his head? He tried to brush aside some hair that had gotten in his face only to find that his hands were tied behind his back.

What happened to him...?

Hokuto had said that people may be after him, so maybe they'd found him. Was he drugged? It certainly felt that way, and it made sense Mao wasn't usually the type to sleep through commotion.

The rumbling around him slowed as the car rolled to a stop. Voices approached, none of them distinct enough for Mao's half-awake brain to distinguish them or figure out how many people there were.

"It's a shame we had to go out tonight, I was really hoping to get my beauty sleep."

"You still haven't got used to working at night?"

"Oh, I'm used to it by now, darling, that doesn't mean I'm gonna stop complaining."

"Is he awake yet?"

"Looks like it yeah."

"Good good, it'd be much worse for everyone if he was still asleep."

"Speaking of awake, you're looking more awake than usual."

"Hmm? Oh yeah I guess so. It's night."

The people kept talking and Mao felt himself being picked up and tossed over someone's shoulder. He'd have thrashed around if he had any energy; the person carrying him started walking, which was an extremely awkward feeling considering his position. After a minute or two they stopped and let Mao down. He was sort of standing now, but he still had the bag over his head and his knees were weak, so when someone grabbed his arm and tried to lead him through the doors that, from the sound of it, had just opened he tripped over himself and had to be dragged a little further before he regained his footing.

Suddenly, gentle cold hands brushed his neck to untie that bag and remove it. Mao blinked a couple times before staring at the hands' owner. It was a boy who looked about the same age as him with black hair that framed his face and half-lidded red eyes. Looking at his captures, they were all wearing the same thing. Black pants, black long-sleeved shirts and white overcoats with gold, blue, and black accents. Two logos were on the chest of the coat, one above the other. The first one was blue and gold, with fancy lettering that looked like a 'Y' and an 'S'. The bottom one was clearer, blue letters that spelled 'Knights', a fleur de lis on either side.

The boy puffed his cheeks and frowned, "He~y. What's that look for?"

"Um..." Mao's voice cracked, "Who- who are you?"

"Mmm... that's not really important."

"Come on Ritsu-chan. I'll go first! I'm Narukami Arashi, but you can call me big sis!" The girl in front of him also didn't look any older than Mao. She had short blond hair with a sort of undercut. Her eyes were a pretty lavender color. Arashi nudged the red-eyed boy, Ritsu, was it?, with her elbow.

"Fine..." the boy stuck out his hand, "I'm Sakuma Ritsu, nice to meet you Maa-kun~" Mao shook Ritsu's hand. He was used to Subaru's nicknames but this one was new.

"Ooh, me next," a boy who looked slightly older than the others all but yelled stepped forward. He had messy orange hair that was pulled back into a low ponytail that was so small Mao almost laughed, and bright green eyes. "I'm Tsukinaga Leo! Oh and this guy here won't introduce himself because he's stubborn, but he's Sena Izumi." Leo gestured to a grey haired boy with stunning blue eyes. Actually, the grey-haired boy was just pretty in general.

Finally, the last of his captures introduced themselves-- did kidnappers usually do that? He took Mao's hand and shook it far more firmly than Ritsu did, then spoke, "Suou Tsukasa, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry if we were a bit rough with you." Tsukasa had dull red hair and similar color eyes to Arashi; a nice purple.

"Ah, you look a little confused, Mao-chan. We aren't supposed to tell you much since you'll be meeting with the Boss. That's an honor, you know, not many people see him much these days," Arashi explained, putting a hand on his back and leading him down the corridor, "We don't have that many new recruits either, they stopped coming around the same time the Boss got really sick, poor thing. We've had one or two since then, but nowhere near as much as we used to get."

"Have you... have you been here for a long time?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I've been here a few years now, I think. Not nearly as long as some of the agents here, but longer than most."

"What about your family?"

"What about them? They know I go here, you know this is an idol agency right? That's our cover at least, so my family thinks I'm training here to become an idol."

"Oh. What about my parents, my little sister?"

"They're fine, there another unit working with them."

Panic rose in Mao's chest, "What-"

Tsukasa put a hand on Mao's shoulder and gave him an apologetic look, "They won't be hurt, as far as they know you're being enrolled in the agency as an idol-in-training."

"But they'll never believe that. I've never expressed any interest in becoming an idol."

"Oh don't worry about that!" Leo boomed, "We have ways to make people believe us!"

Mao was too uneasy to add to that. Instead, he decided to look around.

So this was where his friends worked, huh?

It was night and no one had turned any lights on so everything was bathed in darkness. Shadows danced along the walls and floor, which gave the relatively normal-looking school corridor an eerie feeling. There was no noise besides their echoing footsteps. The further in they got, the worse Mao felt about this place. He felt like he was being constantly watched, like someone was analyzing his every move just waiting to strike.

When Arashi and the other four stopped in front of a plain brown wood door and told him to go in before leaving the way they came, Mao didn't know what to think. If this was the same boss Hokuto had mentioned then he better be on his guard. But at the same time, there was still a part of him that believed this was all just a joke. Just a harmless prank between friends.

He gave the door a tentative push, feeling slightly relieved he didn't have to knock and break the near silence the hallway was engulfed in.

"Don't be shy, come on in." Mao jumped back, startled. Getting a hold of himself, he opened the door wider so as to enter the room. The room was a typical student council room, a large desk directly opposite the entrance and in front of a huge window, which cast moonlight down into the room and turned the person sat at the desk into a silhouette. A few other smaller but still relatively large desks were on the sides of the room in front of some bookshelves that were filled with binders and small books.

"Isara Mao, was it?" The Boss wasn't asking. Mao couldn't tell much because of the lighting, but he had smooth hair cut just at his jawline and was light in color. The Boss' eyes seemed to almost glow in the darkness-- they were so blue. He was smiling and resting his chin on his hands. "You've caused quite a but of trouble for me."

"I-I'm sorry."

"No. It's fine, you didn't know. But I must say I really don't like people who cause trouble."

Mao didn't say anything. He couldn't think of anything that would sound intelligent enough. The Boss' eyes pierced into Mao's soul, and Mao felt like he was being evaluated or judged. As though if he did the wrong thing or said something wrong he would be punished.

"Makoto vouched for you, you know. He called my right-hand man to tell me not to be so hard on you. I wonder... do you know what I'm running here? Do you know what even one loose end could do? How dangerous it is to have someone unaffiliated with the agency know about it?"

He seemed to be waiting for a response, so Mao provided a small, "Yes, sir," since whoever the Boss was he seemed like the type to appreciate formality.

"Hmm... It was foolish of them to tell you as much as they did. They risked their lives and yours. You realize that, right?"

"Yes, sir. But- the situation-!"

"I know of it. And still... we have ways of dealing with these things. Ways to make people forget things they weren't supposed to see. It was an unnecessary risk, so they must have hoped I'd take you in. It has been an awfully long time since I've let anyone like you in."

"Like me...?"

"Someone I'm unfamiliar with. Someone I know only from their official records. The last couple recruits had all at least come around the agency from time to time. Of course, they didn't know it's real intent at the time. I admit your case is rather... frightening.

But you know too much, and since Makoto has vouched for you... he's one of our best hackers, you know. I trust his word, but I do hope you won't let me down. It's his neck and yours on the line if you do.

Now that the introductions are out of the way..." Mao didn't want to remind him that introductions usually included both parties' names, and the Boss hadn't given his. "You won't be returning home for some time. It's customary for agents to stay in the dorms, especially new recruits. You're family has been alerted of this, of course, and your things have been brought to your dorm, so there's no need to worry," the Boss placed a map on the table, and pushed it towards Mao, "You'll be staying with an agent I believe you've already met, Sakuma Ritsu.

He'll fill you in on anything else you need to know or answer any questions you may have. But... there's one last thing you need to know.

You are a part of the agency now. There is no quitting, no giving up, no retiring. There's only one way to leave, and I think you know what I mean. This is not a game. I wouldn't do anything foolish, if I were you."

" Yes, sir." Mao pivoted, taking the map and leaving just as he heard,

"Because it may be the last thing you do."

A shiver ran up his spine.

He tried to ignore that feeling and instead attempted to follow the map.

Trying to find his dorm, or anything in the 'school' really, proved to be a challenge. More so since Mao soon learned that not many people were awake at this hour, so it wasn't like he had anyone to ask for directions. The map he'd received had only a basic red line drawn extending from the Boss's office to Mao's room, but it didn't say anything about what was what or what to do if the doors were locked. At one point the line stopped and reappeared closer to his destination with only the word 'underground' to aid him. It really didn't help that everything looked the same.

All of a sudden, a pair of hands clapped down on his shoulders.

"Maa-kun~"

"O-oh, Sakuma-"

"No, Sakuma's what people call my brother. You can call me Ritsu~"

"Oh, um, okay then," Mao said, trying to push off the black haired boy who had started leaning heavily on Mao's back. "Was there something you needed?"

"Mmm, Maa-kun looked looked lost, so I thought I'd help him."

"That's nice of you, actually... we're roommates, right. So we're going to the same place?"

"I could go back to the dorm, but I'll just be bored there since you'll be sleeping."

"And you won't be?"

"Here, let me take you there~" Ritsu grabbed his hand and pulled him into an elevator that almost blended into the wall under the poor lighting. Ritsu fished around in his pockets and brought out a small card-- like a credit card, Mao thought--and held it up to a screen just below all the elevator buttons.

"Welcome Sakuma Ritsu of Knights. Access granted."

It was said in a woman's voice, and the aforementioned boy pushed the button labeled '3'. Ritsu laughed at the shocked look on Mao's face before explaining.

"It won't work if you don't have an ID. The Boss gave you one, yeah?"

"No...? No he didn't."

"Eh? Then how'd he expect you to... hmm. He must've known I was gonna find you. That's wierd though, everyone else has one."

"Even other new members?"

"Yup."

"Oh. Why'd she call you Ritsu of Knights?"

"That's my unit, Knights. We all have one, it's the group you work with mostly. All of us that you met earlier, we're Knights."

"Huh. Everyone has one, you say?"

"Yu~p."

"Do you know Hidaka Hokuto or Akehoshi Subaru? Or maybe Yuuki Makoto?"

"I know of them, yeah. We don't work with them much, but Secchan talks about Yuu-kun a lot."

"Do they have a unit?"

"You should learn to listen better, I did say that everyone has one. They make up the newest unit, Trickstar, I think."

"Trickstar... so do I have to make one?"

"You can. You can also join one, which is less work-- the Boss has to approve any new units before they can actually act."

"Wait you didn't answer my earlier question?"

"Which one? You've asked a lot Maa-kun~"

"You said I was gonna sleep as though you weren't, why not?"

"I wish this elevator would go faster, don't you think it's a little slow?"

"Ritsu-"

"We've put in complaints already, but they're just ignored," Ritsu pouted.

"I'm being ignored right now. Why won't you sleep?"

Ritsu sighed, "because I don't sleep at night, obviously."

"Obviously? Why not?"

"You're terribly annoying sometimes you know. Because one, Knights operates mostly on nights, and two, I'm a vampire, of course I don't sleep at night."

"Oh shut up, no you're not."

"Mhm~ am too."

"Oh yeah? Prove it." Mao said playfully, not expecting Ritsu to smile then open his mouth and point to the small but very sharp fangs he had.

"Oh."

"It's cool. Humans don't usually believe us without proof, if you need more you can offer your blood. I'm kinda thirsty."

"Uhh no thank you. Wait, us?"

"My and my brother."

If Mao felt like his whole world was being changed before, now it sure was. Vampires-- beings of legends-- actually existed and he was talking to one. If the last 24 hours hadn't happened, Mao would have laughed it off as a joke. But in those 24 hours so much crazy stuff had happened that the redhead would've believed almost anything. The elevator dinged and announcedthe 'underground'. The doors slid open; Ritsu grabbed Mao's hand and pulled him along. He must have noticed the strange perplexed face Mao was making.

"You don't have to give me that look~"

"I wasn't-"

"That's not even the half of it. There are three nonhumans at the agency, my brother and I are two of them. The third isn't a vampire, but it's probably best if he told you what he is himself. Plus it's more fun if you have to guess who the third is. And that's not even counting the agents that can use magic."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Magic. You know," Ritsu held up his hands and wiggled his fingers, "magic."

"...Sure. Do I have to learn magic?"

"Nope! Well, unless you were born with the potential for it, then you would. But don't worry, most of us can't use do it."

"How many can?"

"Uh like six, I've never counted."

Mao didn't pay much attention to their surroundings since his head was spinning so violently but he vaguely noted that all the walls and ceiling and floor were grey and cement and that the doors were metal and thick, with similar screens to the one on the elevator. The hallways were wide and the ceiling was high up. The place was like a bunker.

"We won't be down here for long. The elevator to the dorms isn't that far away."

"Can't you get to the dorms um... normally?"

"The doors don't open. They're always locked from the inside so you can get out but not in, it's safer. It'd be a shame if someone mean were to get into our rooms, dontcha think?"

Door after door after door, everything looked the same. Mao doubted the insides of the rooms they sped past were as dull as the outsides looked, but he couldn't see inside them to tell. Right before they got to the second elevator of the night, there was a door that was made of a dark wood, with an old fashioned lock instead of the scanners. Mao wondered what it was for since it was so different.

The elevator announcer repeated, "Welcome Sakuma Ritsu of Knights. Access granted," and the ride up passed in silence. Mao took note of the fact that you could go further down even though the bunker-like area had seemed like the lowest floor.

Ritsu must have known that Mao didn't feel like talking much anymore because he chose to observe Mao instead of talk, though he did occasionally mutter to himself. The long drawn out silence was still a bit unnerving.

Mao's hand was still in Ritsu's, he noticed only when the doors opened and Ritsu pulled him along again.

"We're on the second floor of the B-building, which is where we are right now. Our room is this one here, dorm 3."

"There are only three dorm."

"Yeah. It's two people per dorm, you'll meet the others on our floor sometime tomorrow probably." Ritsu opened the door, one of the few doors he'd seen in the past twenty minutes that didn't require authorization or anything, and moved to let Mao in.

"It was good meeting you, Maa-kun~. I hope we get to work together again soon~"

"Yeah, me too, Ritsu."

Ritsu stuck his tongue out at Mao and gave a half wave, then left the way he came.

Mao didn't even bother to look around. He walked straight to the bed and collapsed into soft bedding and warm sheets.

He dreamt of vampires who led people to a new life and higher figures the ruled from the shadows.


	3. Act I: The Initiation of Isara Mao

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mao starts his day with a good does of pure terror and only mild panic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise this is the last chapter that will end with Mao sleeping, I swear.
> 
> Fun fact: the scene with Kanata is one of the first things I wrote for this au, and I really like how it turned out.  
Fun fact 2: There's no part in any of the enstars stories where Mika calls Mao by name, so I didn't know what honorific to use, so I didn't use one.
> 
> Theres still set up in this chapter, but I also tried to make it slightly more interesting. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!!

Mao sighed when he walked into Ritsu's part of the dorm only to find his roommate passed out in his bed, the alarm clock on the bedside table buzzing and beeping loudly. Despite the noise, Ritsu didn't show any sign of waking up anytime soon.

Mao shut the alarm off and decided to leave Ritsu. He used this opportunity to look around at his roommate's little room. It was pretty much the same as his own, a large brown canopy bed in the center of the wall, a small table at one side with a lamp and the alarm on it that read 8:13 in the morning. Reddish-brown walls and dark wood floors-- to one side was a big wooden dresser and a window, and to the other was a full length mirror and a desk. Mao's room was slightly smaller because the bathroom was next to it, so Ritsu's room felt rather empty when compared to his.

Leaving Ritsu's room and entering the main area of the dorm, the walls changed to a cream color. From his right to left there was a basic kitchen, the exit, the door to the bathroom right next to the door for Mao's room, a small dining table, and the green couch in front of the TV and the two windows on either side of the TV. Essentially, it was a normal dorm.

He had gotten ready when his alarm went off at 8, but he had no idea where he needed to be or even if he was needed. Maybe he should've woken Ritsu...

Just as Mao was considering waking the sleeping boy, someone knocked at the door. 

"Ritsu-chan~? Mao-chan~?" a vaguely familiar voice sounded.

Mao opened up to see Arashi, dressed in the same uniform Mao had found folded up in his dresser. So there was a dress code...?

"Oh, good. I didn't think you'd be awake! I take it Ritsu-chan is still sleeping?"

"Yeah, he's pretty much dead to the world." Mao saw someone else peek their head out from behind Arashi as the girl laughed.

"Yeah, he does that. Usually we get to sleep in since we work nights, but your initiation is soon and I would miss it for the world! It's been so long since we've had one."

"Initiation?"

"Yeah, you know, to officially welcome you to the agency? It's a bit of an old tradition, but it's fun."

"Um," Mao tried to get a good look at whoever was behind Arashi, but they kept avoiding his gaze, "may I ask who you are...?"

"Oh, Mika-chan, come on. Don't be like that~" She moved aside, letting Mao look at the boy. He had black hair, but his eyes were interesting, one was a light blue and the other was a vibrant gold. The boy noticed him staring.

"Nnahhh, my name's Kagehira Mika, an' I would appreciate it if you uhh, didn't look at me like tha'." Mika stuttered, "I'm sorry, I ain't real good with strangers but I wanted to meet you... since we're in the dorms next to each other an' all."

"Are we?"

"Yeah, Mika-chan and I are right there," Arashi pointed to the closest dorm besides Mao's own, "and also I figured, with Ritsu-chan still asleep, you wouldn't know where to head."

"That's nice of you, I was just gonna wake Ritsu up before you knocked."

"Oh, thats near impossible. That boy would probably just fall back to sleep even if you had woke him up. He can sleep anywhere, it's baffling sometimes."

"Nnah, we should get going. I need t' meet with Oshi-san before the initiation."

"You're ready, right Mao-chan?"

"Yeah."

"Well then let's go~!"

The three made their way down stairs, to the exit that, according to Ritsu, you could only exit through. From the dorms it was only a short walk to the main school building from aboveground. Or maybe Mao's exhaustion last night made the journey feel longer than it was.

When they got into the school, it seemed as though everyone was heading in one direction. Mao tried to keep up with Arashi and Mika, which proved easier said than done. They hung back with him, though, and stopped in front of the door labeled 'auditorium'.

"Oh, Mao-chan, you won't be joining us up here. You need to head underground, but if you just go straight you should find the right door, we've gotta go in now but good luck darling~"

"It was nice meetin' you Mao." Mika waved to him before going inside. 

Then Mao was alone. If he remembered right, he couldn't get into the underground without someone else's help, since he didn't have an ID yet. He decided to see if the Boss was in, to see if maybe he could get an ID.

He stood in front of the the Boss's office without really thinking about it and knocked.

"Come in."

Now that it was daylight Mao could get a proper look at the Boss. He had blonde hair, his bangs sweeping across his face and under one of his eyes. He was pale, paler than Mao thought was heathly, and his hair was slightly disheveled.

"Ah... Isara Mao."

"I'm sorry to bother you but, uh..."

"I know why you're here."

"You... you do?"

"Yes. I didn't give you your ID last night, I must ask you forget about my forgetfulness, I was not entirely... nevermind me. Here it is."

Mao took the small card. It bore his name and a picture of him, as well as the same blue and gold logo that had been on Knights' outfits earlier. 

How had they gotten a picture of him?

"You should be on your way, Isara-kun. The ceremony will begin soon."

"Oh uh, right."

And thus, Mao went on his way. He took the same elevator he took with Ritsu and ended up in the same grey halls. None of the doors were labeled. Mao could hear commotion around him but couldn't quite tell where it was coming from.

Somehow, he found his way into a room filled with fish tanks. All shapes and sizes of them too, some of which glowed with a blue light and others were filled with fake caves and seaweed and pebbles. The fish got larger and more frightening the farther in Mao got, starting with tiny goldfish and ending with fearsome looking piranhas and some fish with huge daggers for teeth that Mao couldn't name. He knew he should have been leaving, but something about this place was enticing. Suddenly someone broke his concentration. 

A boy stood in front of him with blue hair, one strand of which defied gravity and stood up, and an innocent smile. The boy had a finger gun right between Mao's eyes.

"'Bang'~" the smile didn't waver, "you're 'dead'."

"What?"

"If I had been 'shooting' at you, you would have 'died'."

"Oh-"

"Your 'reflexes' could use some 'work'. But they will grow 'faster' in time."

"Um, may I ask who you are?"

"Oh, me~? I'm Shinkai Kanata, it's a 'pleasure' to 'meet' you, Isara Mao." The boy's, Kanata's, eyes swirled like whirlpools. Mao could almost loose himself staring at them. 

"How do you know my name?"

"The 'fish' in the pond overheard you 'talking' to your... captors. They 'told' me."

"The... the fish told you?"

"Have I 'misspoke'? The fish 'told' me."

"How?"

"I do not understand your 'reaction'. I asked them to 'tell' me anything 'interesting' they may have 'heard', and they told me 'your' name."

"You can talk to them?"

"Yes~" Kanata turned his side to Mao, looking happily at the tank to his right, filled with fluorescent jellyfish. "Maybe you are looking at me 'like' that because you are not 'familiar' with me?"

"Yeah... I'm new here, so I'm unfamiliar with everyone, really."

"Yes, I 'know'. But that is 'not' what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"You are 'unfamiliar' with my kind. 'Nonhumans'."

"You're... not-?"

"'Human'? No." Kanata turned again to face Mao; he was still smiling but his eyes held a sorrow within. "I am a 'living' god of sorts, though I am 'no' longer... associated with 'that' title."

"If you don't mind me asking, why not?"

"You are 'close' with those kids, yes? The 'Trickstar' kids?"

"Yeah, we went to school together. Or I mean, they were assigned to go to my school."

"Mhm~. I have 'never' seen a human 'school' before. This one 'does' not really count."

"Did you not go to school?"

"My family felt I did not 'need' teaching. And there are no 'schools' underwater."

"Under... water?"

"I am from the 'ocean'. My kind all 'are'."

"Why did you say you don't associate with that title anymore? Is that too personal?"

"I went against my 'kind's' ways." Kanata put his hand on Mao's shoulder and led him to a tank filled with more fish Mao didn't know the name of. They were small and graceful and seemed to enjoy Kanata's presence. The color of the fish matched Kanata's hair exactly. 

"You are a 'good' boy, Isara Mao."

"Am I?"

"I was not. My kind 'cannot' go on land for too long 'without' rehydrating. We are also not 'supposed' to talk to 'humans'. When I was much 'younger' I snuck off when my 'parents' were not 'watching'. I went to the 'beach' and met a 'young' boy, a young human. He said we were 'friends'.

When I grew 'older' I did not 'want' to stay in the ocean. I wanted to 'walk' the land and 'explore'. I wanted to talk to 'people' other than those I had known 'since' birth. There are not many 'of' us, so there was not 'much' company. There was only 'one' way to do that, I 'renounced' my position and my immortality. I took to the land in 'search' of the boy I 'met'."

"Was there no other way? Renouncing your uhh... godly-hood seems a bit..."

Kanata's face fell, "'Foolish'. You are 'hardly' the first to tell 'me' that."

"If... if you went looking for your friend, then how'd you end up here?"

"I 'followed' him here. But he is 'not' the boy I met then. He has 'grown' up."

"Then why do you stay?"

"You 'cannot' leave the agency. But aside 'from' that... I have found 'another' reason to stay. Perhaps I didn't 'find' the friend I 'used' to have, but I have 'found' more friends.

I have 'found' people who do not 'judge' me for being 'different'. Who do not 'call' me foolish for 'my' decision. I have 'found' a group I 'belong' in. May I give you 'some' advice, Isara Mao?"

"Of course."

"You are 'close' to those Trickstar 'boys'. Hold onto 'them' and be there for them 'when' they need you. And 'let' them be there for 'you' when you need it. 'Friendship' is hard to 'come' by in our line of work, but it is 'very' important."

Kanata smiled again, a sad smile, and Mao didn't need to be told that it was time to leave the former ocean god alone. Besides, he had wasted enough time here, he had to get to the auditorium. He would've asked Kanata for directions, but as soon as he looked for the blue-haired boy he was nowhere to be found.

After a few more minutes of wandering around, Mao found the door he wanted. Pushing it open, he was met with a large sand pit dug into where the stage of an auditorium would have been three stories above him. There was a wooden door on the other side, the same one he had seen when he went through the underground last night. There was a thunderous cheering the moment he stepped in and hear the doors lock behind him. Looking up he saw rows and rows of people, all looking down at him impatiently-- like they were expecting a show. Mao looked for the few people he knew; he could vaguely make out Arashi and Mika next to a boy with pink hair, Kanata was farther away, but Mao could tell it was him from the vibrant hair. Ritsu was nowhere to be seen, and Mao wasn't surprised but he was a little disappointed. He could easily spot Hokuto, Makoto and Subaru since the two latter were waving their arms around trying to catch his attention. Mao waved back.

Someone with green hair and glasses, who was sat directly above Mao-- in the best seat for viewing-- stood and addressed the crowd.

"I know it had been a long time," he said, his voice projected by a microphone in front of him, "since we've had one of these... initiations. And I am incredibly sorry to announce that the Boss will not be here at this ceremony.

I also know that some of you may be hesitant around new recruits, but I ask that, should this recruit make it through the initiation, there will be no trouble caused. It is with great pleasure that I introduce you all to our newest recruit and welcome you all to the show! Without further ado: The Initiation of Isara Mao!"

The floor opened up in the center of the pit, and a girl rose up on a lift of some sort. Her head was limp, and she was slumped over and kneeling, so Mao couldn't get a good look at her. But she had long blonde hair done in ringlets, and was wearing a dark red and black Victorian style dress that surrounded her where she sat.

She was a puppet, Mao realized, made of porcelain but no one was controlling her. At least, he thought no one was controlling her until she stood up and stared Mao down with bright green glass eyes.

She reached behind her, moving much more human-like than Mao thought a puppet would move, and pulled something out of a hidden pouch in her dress.

Oh, she pulled out a gun. A _gun_. What was he supposed to do? Fight her, _she had a gun_! Speaking of which, said weapon was being held at Mao's eye level, and he didn't think she'd hesitate at all in pulling the trigger.

The doors on the other side... he needed to get out of here.

Mao felt his legs move without thinking about it, rushing for the exit. The puppet was faster than he expected, and the first shot made a hole in the wall right where his head would've been if he hadn't moved.

She was much faster than expected; in an instant she was in front of Mao and kicking him in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him and stopping him cold. He was on the ground and pinned down by a freaking puppet. The crowd gave a loud groan in sympathy. She held the gun to Mao's forehead, the boy struggling to break free to move his head out of the way.

**BANG**

Mao felt a sharp pain in his cheek and suddenly couldn't hear anything but an annoying ringing. Kicking the puppet off of him, he stood, took the gun she had dropped, and broke into a sprint again before feeling another sharp stabbing in his side. Glancing behind him, he saw the puppet holding a bloody knife. He'd been stabbed, and she was coming at him for another stabbing.

His body moved on its own, rolling sideways out of the way of the knife swinging through the air and kicked her knee backwards. A crack reverberated through the pit and the puppet fell momentarily. Mao felt sick, what had he done? Stumbling backwards, he barely noted that the knife had left her hand and was sailing through the air before seeing it plunge into his shoulder. 

A violent scream tore through the cheering of the onlookers. At this point Mao felt like he was having a bad dream, like he'd wake up soon in his own bed at home. He was more watching himself run and fight and run and fight than he was actually doing it.

The puppet's cracked knee didn't slow her down at all, she kept lunging at Mao with various knives. Luckily, she didn't seem to have another gun and the one she did have was still in Mao's tight grip. He didn't know how to use it nor did the puppet give him many chances to try. He was right there, the exit was right there when she tackled him to the ground, placing a blade to the small of his back. He shook, pushing her off just as the blade drew blood, and practically threw himself at the exit door. The moment he touched the door, the puppet girl went still, returning to her starting position hunched over. The crowd got louder, Mao's hearing only just properly returning.

The door opened for him and he was met with Arashi and Mika, as well as the pink-haired boy they had sat next to. He couldn't see his three friends anywhere.

"Oh, honey, I'm so glad you made it. You did amazing!"

"I- she... yeah."

"You stay here, I'll go find where that doctor has run off to." Arashi hurried off. 

The pink-haired boy, who had violet eyes, sniffed disdainful and looked over Mao, "I do not appreciate you breaking Mademoiselle's knee."

"Are you... are you the one who controlled the puppet."

The boy sniffed again and huffed, "Mademoiselle is a marionette, not a silly puppet!" He stormed away, leaving Mao alone with Mika. 

Mika gave Mao an apologetic look, "Nnah, forgive Oshi-san. He ain't real good with people, an' he ain't real fond of strangers. I... you gotta understand, Mao, that uhh... some of the people here ain't gonna like you being here for a while. Some of them have had bad experiences in the past an' they may not trust easy, but they're all good people, I promise."

"I... yeah."

Arashi returned, leading a man with disheveled black hair and stubble into the small room. The man took Mao by the good shoulder and steered him towards what he assumed was the infirmary.

Mao made it a total of three steps before blacking out. 


	4. Act I: A Casual Tour of Yumenosaki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mao gets an official tour of his new school and learnes some names.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda a filler chapter and I had major writers block while writing it, so I can't guarantee that this is a great chapter but whatever.
> 
> Act I is the shortest one, and it's maybe one or two chapters away from ending. I'll talk more about that when we get there though.
> 
> Yeah so anyway, enjoy!

Subaru's unnecessarily loud voice had woken Mao up more than he'd care to admit; usually whenever Mao would doze off in class or in the library, though they'd had sleepovers once or twice in the span of their friendship. Briefly, in his delirious and feverish state, he wondered how much of that friendship was calculated. Had Subaru and Makoto and Hokuto planned to meet Mao? Was the bond between those three and Mao just another part of their mission? Or was it a pleasant mistake?

Mao knew he should answer Subaru even just to tell the boy to stop calling his name right next to his ear because the noise made his head hurt, but he couldn't get his voice to work and his mouth felt like sandpaper. Even opening his eyes took energy he didn't have.

He expected Subaru to start shaking Mao when he didn't answer, but luckily the obnoxiously rowdy boy knew better. Slowly, Mao cracked an eye open and immediately closed it when the blinding light of the infirmary hit him. After a few moments he blinked his eyes open as they adjusted to the brightness, and turned his gaze to his friend.

"Sari!! You're awake! Hokke said you might be sleeping but I wanted to see you anyway!"

Mao hadn't expected that the sight of Subaru-- who had practically been a constant even before his whole life changed-- to ground him as it did. Instantly, he felt much more alive and real than he had in a day or two.

Three days. It had only taken these people three days to uproot Mao's entire existence.

Subaru's bright expression, the vibrancy of his hair, the way he smiled with his whole face and how his eyes glittered, the very faint and tiny scar that was mostly hidden by his bangs on his forhead. Nothing had changed in him. Even with everything that had happedned, Subaru was the same... and that was comforting.

Mao listened as Subaru launched into his explanation of the previous day's events since Mao had heen confined to the infirmary and was apparently asleep when the starry-eyed boy came by yesterday evening.

"Boss mentioned giving you an official tour of the Agency once you were ready! I was gonna tell you earlier but Sagami-chan wouldn't let anyone in," Subaru pouted, "so what about it! Hokke, Ukki and I could show you around! It'll be loads of fun!!"

The sensible thing to do was decline the offer in favor of resting a while more. Mao's body still felt like lead. Unfortunately or fortunately, Mao was sick of being stuck in the oppressing white room and he agreed to the outing immediately. Subaru visibly lit up and tugged at Mao's hand, trying get the latter to stand.

Mao grunted as he was pulled out of bed, quickly trying to catch his balance when standing after so long proved difficult. His side burned briefly.

"I think I'm ready." Mao nodded stiffly. Maybe this was a bad idea... but he wasn't about to give up his chance to leave the infirmary. Nor was he about to let Subaru down.

"Yay~! Let go~!" The grip on his hand didn't lessen and soon he was in a hallway he vaguely recognized.

"Where are Hokuto and Makoto?"

"Oh, we'll find them eventually!"

Mao was extremely glad to be free of the infirmary. He didn't like not doing anything for long periods of time, and there was only so much fun that could be had staring at a blank wall.

Subaru turned to look at Mao, "Alrighty, so!"

"Oh, you're starting?"

"Yup!! This is the third underground floor, we kinda just call it U-3 for short. There's the infirmary, the auditorium aka the arena pit, the aquarium, and some classrooms on this floor. Let's start with the arena, you'll recognize it."

The infirmary was right in front of the arena entrance. Subaru pushed the thick metal doors open and, true to the orange-haired boy's word, Mao recognized it. The sand pit and the walls that towered above them. Where so many people had been before during his... initiation... the seats were empty. There was no blood on the sand, so Mao assumed someone changed it out after he'd left. There was no sign of the trap door that held the puppet-- no, the marionette.

Subaru must've known what was one Mao's mind because he said, "She's on the floor below us in Valkyrie's base."

"Valkyrie's... base?" No part of that sentence made sense.

"Yeah! You know, Valkyrie. It's a unit with Mikki and Itsuki-senpai and their base is directly below us!"

"Okay but... what?"

Subaru huffed, "You know about units, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well, every unit has a base of operations. Basically the place they go to discuss missions or gear up or whatever. It's not really important, they're all on the floor below us, U-4. I can show you Trickstar's later if you want, but you'll have to join us first! You were gonna join us, right?"

"Absolutely."

"Yay~!" Subaru clapped his hands and grinned wide, "I'm getting tired of seeing all this dirt, let's go somewhere else!"

"This is sand, Subaru."

"Sand shmand, let's go!"

Being pulled around reminded Mao of his school before all this Yumenosaki stuff. The four of them-- Hokuto, Makoto, Subaru, and Mao-- would occasionally go to the mall or some other place together and find themselves being led various places by the most enthusiastic memeber of the group.

Soon they met another door and Subaru announced that they had found the aquarium with a laugh. It was the room he'd been expecting, the one he'd met Kanata in with all the vibrant tanks and frightening fish.

"Why is there even an aquarium?"

"I think they added it because of Shinkai-senpai. I heard he'd been keeping the fish anyway so Boss just decided to give him a place to put them," Subaru said, laughing.

Laughing made pain flare in his side but Mao figured it was worth it.

"Uhh, that's pretty much all that's on this floor besides the combat classrooms, but you'll have to see those eventually and they aren't interesting. Hmm... up one we go then~!"

One short elevator ride and a "Welcome Akehoshi Subaru of Trickstar. Access granted." was all it took for the two to be standing on the second underground level, as Subaru called it, U-2.

"Where do you wanna go first: the training area, the armory, or the closet?"

"The closet?"

"Okay, to the closet we go!"

The closet was an entire room in which clothes of all sorts hung from hangers on bars attached to the walls, all of the walls except the one directly in front of the entrance. That one had large mirrors and draws. In the center of the room was a table and on the table was a box that was overflowing with fabrics, many pairs of scissors, and some pens as well as a smaller version of the marionette he'd fought. The two sat at the table were familiar to Mao.

"Mikki~! Itsuki-senpai~!"

It was Mika and the pink-haired 'Oshi-san' from before. 

"Goodness Akehoshi. Must you always be so loud?" Itsuki huffed.

"Haha, what're you working on?"

Mika didn't even look up at the intruders, clearly fully engrossed in his task of cutting a long strip of thick red fabric. Itsuki gently threaded his sewing through two sheets. 

"Akatsuki has requested an update to their current mission outfits. Kagehira and I are working on them."

"Ohh! Akatsuki's been really busy lately, huh. I haven't seen any of them since the initiation."

"I suppose so." It was clear that Itsuki didn't really care. He jumped, nearly stabbing his finger when Subaru suddenly yelled. 

"Ah!"

"What on earth, Akehoshi?!"

"Do you think you could make Sari a Trickstar outfit?"

"Of course I could, but I have my hands full and these things take time, you know."

"Yeah... it's okay though! We haven't even done the paperwork yet so we have plenty of time!"

"Paperwork?"

Itsuki finally looked up from his work to study Mao.

"There's quite a lot that goes into adding members to a unit. Not to mention that there's a chance... Tenshouin," his lips curled when he said the name, "may not even allow it. He may have plans for Isara already."

"Nah, Boss isn't like that."

"You don't know what Tenshouin is like."

Mao spoke up, trying to defuse the rising argument, "We'll be sure to file the uhh... we'll be sure to ask him about it soon."

"Hmm..." Itsuki continued to stare Mao down. 

"Is something wrong?"

The pink-haired boy turned back to his work. "Itsuki Shu, do your best to remember it."

Subaru and Mao left with a cheery "bye bye!"

"The armory is closest, onward!"

The next few locations passed without much fanfare. The armory was just that, weapons of all kinds hung up on display. Guns, knives, spears, axes, even more unusual things like umbrellas or briefcases that Mao figured were actually bombs in disguise. Subaru waved Mao's questions off by saying that they'd be back later to get Mao situated and then they mived on to the training area. It was sort of like a gym with treadmills and other machines, and at the back was a shooting range where a boy with short purple hair was practicing with a bow. The boy didn't miss a single shot.

The two went up again, completely skipping the first underground floor in favor of going to floor one, the entrance. U-1 was off limits, Subaru explained, only the Boss was allowed to go there, and no one really knew why.

The first floor was simple as well. It was really similar to Mao's old school-- the hallways and classrooms and everything all looked the same. The Boss's office was on this floor though when Subaru decided to grab the necessary papers to add Mao to his unit they found the room locked. There was even a small nurse's office despite a proper infirmary being only three floors below.

Mao was led outside next, toward the track.

"You can see the dorms over there," Subaru gestured vaguely in the direction of the dorm buildings, "and here's the track!!"

The fact that it was completely normal looking was jarring. Truthfully, going from the underground floors to the aboveground ones almost gave Mao a sense of whiplash from how suddenly everything went from secret shady business to normal school stuff.

They met up with Arashi at the track and she introduced them to the three people that were with her. A tall boy with not-quite shoulder-length messy brown hair and green eyes called Mikejima Madara, a muscular boy with short purple hair and golden eyes called Otogari Adonis, and a short but energetic boy with brown hair called Tenma Mitsuru.

After the track they went to the second floor of the school, where Subaru showed him the soundproof rooms they used for practicing idol activities.

"But I thought the idol thing was just a cover?"

"Nope! We're all idols, we do performances and stuff, just not very often because we've got other things to do."

"Huh."

"Mhm, anyway. Upstairs is the roof, but there's nothing really up there. Sometimes we practice up there."

They went back to floor one, out the opposite side this time to the entrance of the whole school. A tall gate surroumded the school grounds. An enormous stone fountain was in the center of the courtyard-like area, and a small pond with tiny fish was to the side. Past the gate was a parking lot with lots of black vans parked. Mao could see five people hanging around one. Subaru told him their names: Morisawa Chiaki, Takamine Midori, Sengoku Shinobu, and Nagumo Tetora. Mao recognized Kanata among them, talking calmly to Chiaki, who waved his hands around as he spoke. The other three listened amd watched, Shinobu ducking to narrowly avoid one of Chiaki's hands as the enthusiastic boy swung it outward.

To one side was a garden terrace of sorts that Subaru claimed had a restaurant and kitchen in it. It was closed. 

They went back inside and started downstairs to get to the dorms. Subaru figured Hokuto and Makoto would be there.

The A building looked no different than the B buildimg did, Mao noticed. Subaru was talking about ome thing or another loudly as he usually did, and from the room Subaru claimed as his own a boy popped his head out to glare. He had red hair with white streaks, of which one part was longer than the rest.

"You are being too loud Baru-kUN."

"Oh! Natsume, hi~! Have you met Sari yet?"

The boy turned his amber eyes on Mao.

"NO, I don't think I haVE."

Mao stuck his hand out to the boy, "I'm Isara Mao, but you probably-"

"Already knOW? YES," he didn't take Mao's hand, "Sakasaki NatsuME." The boy disappeared behind the door and Mao heard the telltale click of the door locking.

Subaru knocked on the door next to his, and the two met up with the rest of Trickstar.


End file.
